Identifying and Organizing Cards
  • Categories
  • Abbreviations and Definitions

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    Most cards have a title or otherwise some bit of descriptive information to identify the image or biblical scene it bears. Sunday School Bible lessons usually provide ample information including not only the scriptural context of the card but also the publishing date, volume, publisher, lithographer and even sometimes the signature of the teacher or student. Bible Lessons are easily sequenced by date or publisher, and Album Scripture cards by the book, chapter and verse of the Bible they come from.

    For some religious cards however there is nothing descriptive about the card other than the image itself. The saints and beatti present a real challenge to identify when no text description accompanies the image on the card. There are "some 10,000 Christian saints whose cults have been identified by church historians..." (Woodward, 1990) Saints are commonly depicted with symbols. John Delaney in his Dictionary of Saints lists the saints and their symbols in art (Delaney, 1980). The stories behind the symbols are often colorful, miraculous and legendary in significance. Even the dress of certain religious orders is characteristic and can be helpful in identifying unnamed saints. Collecting images of the saints and beatti alone is an interesting focus to take in collecting religious cards.

    Mary is probably the most popular patroness and is second only to Jesus in the number of cards created with her image. The many apparitions and visions of "Our Lady" create numerous categories of cards and a way to identify the cards.

    A big question a collector may want to ask early on is, "What type of cards should I specialize in?"  Perhaps it may be wise to identify a particular subject or style such as Holy Cards, Funeral Cards, Lace Cards, Prayer Cards, Bible Lessons, Album Cards and Scripture Cards. Or it may be of interest to specialize in any of the common image categories such as Jesus, Mary, Saints, Angels. Cards may also be collected or grouped by publisher, series, artist, or era.

    A computer data base can be extremely helpful in organizing and quickly locating cards. Fields to include in your database of Holy Cards are: Name, Title (St., Bl., etc.), Symbol, Scripture, Prayer, Artist and Museum. Fields common to both Holy Cards and Bible Lessons are: Series, Number, Grade, Description (see abbreviations), Distributor, Publisher, Previous Owner, Source, Date Acquired, Amount Paid, Present Value, Duplicates and Other. Fields specific to a Bible Lesson collection would be Scripture Quote (Bk., Ch., Vs.), Golden Text (Bk., Ch., Vs.), Lesson #, Quarter #, Volume #, Number, Part #, Date, Lithographer and Litho Year.

    Categories          Saints A-Z including large groups of: Abbreviations and Definitions

    Collectors and archivists may save time if abbreviations are used to label or describe cards in the
    process of cataloging, trading or selling.
     

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      Copyright 2002 - Brent Devitt, Beavercreek, OH